Empty Space
by cruxis-wings
Summary: There was nothing left, nothing but empty space. Yuan/Kratos-ish


**AN:** I randomly dreamed this. O.o Decided to write it for the hell of it. Sort of based on a scene from the sequel, even though I've never played it and have no intention to ever do so.

* * *

Silence.

Eerie, empty silence.

How long had he stood, hoping for a sound, a word? Hours of silence, spent hoping for the impossible. How let out a soft sigh, turning his back to the still communicator. It seemed it would remain silent. That familiar voice now forever out of reach.

It wasn't a surprise, of course. He'd known for... Two years that it wouldn't last. The device could only reach so far, the link only last for a limited amount of distance. And yet... "Fool." Who this murmured word was directed to, even the blue haired half-elf—turned angel—did not know. Himself? The voice forever lost to him? Perhaps both. _Yes... We are both fools, after all._ Yuan's lips formed a faint, bitter smile at this, his eyes slowly closing. There was no humor in his smile.

Silence. An empty void, just like that space his last companion from a time long past now traveled through. A one way trip through an empty world of misery. Somehow fitting. Kratos Aurion would have it no other way, correct? The man... Was truly a masochist, hell-bent on his own destruction. "...Fool..." Yes. That solitary word was indeed directed to his lost friend after all. Forever out of reach.

Silent. Empty. Suffocating. _I wonder... If this is what that space you travel... Feels like..._ An idle contemplation, one that... Seemed to increase the numb settling over his ancient body. Or was he already numb to begin with? Yes... How could he not be? After so many years of death and loss, of pain and suffering... It was a world he had shared with only a few souls.

And now?

It seemed, finally, Yuan was indeed utterly alone. Martel. Mithos. Kratos. Martel taken by death, Mithos by insanity and then ultimately his own demise, and now... They had all left him, one by one. And in their place? An empty, silent void. _...This world... I shared with so few..._ Best not to think too deeply on it. Best not to let his heart feel too much, yes? That numb was all that had kept him going over the years. That numb, and...

_--"...Goodbye, my friend..."--_

"Damn you. Always one for dramatics," the words leaked from his lips, his bitter smirk widening, his eyes closing tighter.

Silence. Empty space...

Just like that endless void Kratos had chosen as an escape. The man... The blue haired angel's fists clenched by his sides, his humorless smile transforming into a deep, pained frown. Pain. Solitude. An empty, hollow space... Where his heart had once resided... Thousands of years ago. _Damn you... Damn you, Kratos._

He had grown to look forward to those daily chats far too much, and realized this fact far too late. Talks with a man as broken as himself. A man he shared a history with, a life lost, a... A man forever out of reach. Yuan's hands clenched even tighter, his nails biting into his palms. Pain. Emptiness. Solitude. Though really. Did he deserve anything but? _...So much death and destruction..._

_--"...Goodbye..."--_

Really, he should despise the man. Loathe him for his escapist nature, his self-destructive selfishness. Detest him for... For... Leaving. Leaving Yuan as the last, solitary member of a time filled with such pain and.... "Damn you."

_That's right. Fly off. Fly off and..._ Dampness. Odd. Yuan slowly opened his eyes, raising a slender hand cautiously to his cheek. A lone, solitary tear. How... Strange. How long had it been since he had felt such a sensation? The angel cast a glance down to his left hand, to the ancient ring on his just as ancient finger. How long indeed.

Empty space... Cold solitude. He let out a bitter, humorless laugh. Just as Kratos traversed that empty space, Yuan felt it just the same. That cold, hollow world in his own heart. Funny. They were both trapped in their own hells, weren't they? Worlds of pain and memories, solitude and...

Empty space.

"...That's right. Goodbye, Kratos. You impossible... Loveable fool."

His composure reestablished, his eyes void of expression, the ancient, weary angel stepped away from the infernally silent communicator. Unlike that... Lovable fool he had grown to care for far too much, he wouldn't give up. There was still work to do. In making that world they had dreamed of, so many years ago. That world...

And yet. Yuan had a distinct feeling that nothing would ever fill that empty space in his heart like that voice had. That familiar voice from so long ago. The voice of a sometime 'enemy,' a sometime 'ally,' and... An eternal kindred soul.

_...Goodbye..._

It was a painful numb. A cold, empty space.

~owari


End file.
